Pried chicken and no appetite

So I finally get to the Philippines after what seems like days without a shower (I was ready to give my blanket to anyone on the plane as I was sweating even though people were bundled up (wimps). The lack of A/C probably had something to do with it. Once we got onto the ground you'd be amazed by how non foreign the place looks. You'd think you were in San Fran or Fort Ree, NJ. Except everything is in English instead of Chinese! There were more things in English here than in Downtown LA The first thing that I get adjusted to very quickly is that i'm not considered short anymore! Almost everyone is around my height or within 5 inches so I'm able to see the tops of peoples heads (that aren't 5 years old)! Due to the limited number of flights allowed into the country (due to runway space at the airport) every flight is usually packed full. Sooo, customs is usually packed full.

Luckily we got a line pass since dad was in a wheelchair. I look behind me and it's this 139 year old white lady is there (in a wheelchair too). So being curious, the porters are all asking her what the hell she's doing here? Her son married a pinay and decided to move to pinas. She said they lived 1.5 hours from the airport so that could either be 60 miles or around the corner depending on traffic.

After getting out of the airport was fairly painless. The ride back to the house was relatively quick. It was about noon (local time) and I was exhausted. So since the 3 of us were hungry and wanted something quick, where else to go (while in the Philippines) than KFC!?!

One different thing there is that people practically DRINK the gravy (they serve mashed potatoes but most people get rice) and the gravy is poured all over everything! For years I never understood why Phil and Mark liked gravy with rice. That is until about 4 years ago when I first tried it. Mannn that's gooooood stuff. But since we were tired (and double parked outside), we just got it to go. Naturally as soon as we got home, I went to bed! Of course since it's so hot and humid it took the room unit about 20-25 minutes to get the room cool (due to the high cost of power, it's more practical to have room units than central air).

The nice thing about being in the Philippines is the relaxed pace that things go (whether you want to have that pace or not). Pretty much all day Monday was sleeping and trying to stay hydrated. Dad was really worn out from the traveling so he was resting most of the time. I don't blame him; I felt the same way! I missed seeing my aunt Patty that afternoon because

1. I didn't know she was there till she was pulling out of the driveway.

2. She didn't say hi since mom thought I was sleeping.

So it was mostly just KFC for dinner and then went to bed.

Tuesday was interesting in that I saw my grandma (she's like 86 and can walk faster than me!) still kicking strong and she even drove herself over to my parents place! That was a shocker! But an even bigger shocker was her wireless landline (which sounds like an oxymoron). I found some info here:

http://quago.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/the-proliferation-of-the-wireless-landlines/

It was still hot of course. Tuesday night started a bathroom ritual that lasted till I left. Every night I had to kill a cockroach that was at least 2 inches long. Those things are honking big over there!

Wednesday. A day long remembered. I finally got to meet my penpal Myla (see her here). We've known each other for about 7 years now so it was weird to finally see her in person (especially since in the time we've known each other, she's gotten married and had 2 kids as beautiful as her). We ate at a place called Gerry's Grill and boy was I adventurous! I had Pusit which is grilled squid (not nearly as tough as I thought it would be) and Sisig a pork dish that is mostly pig head and pig ears. It was overcooked (burnt) but other than that, it was fine. I treated her to the SPA. That's the thing I always look forward to going to when I got to the Philippines. You can get a 1 hour massage for less than $20! You can't get that anywhere in the states for that price! I wanted to go back again the next day but we didn't have time :(

Thursday. Family time. Today was mostly either going out with family I hadn't seen yet or doing errands with mom. I went to Gloria Maris (a Chinese restaurant i've gotten really sick of going to) again. This time wasn't as bad as we ate on the "casual" dining side. Every other time i've gone there we've eaten on the formal dining side (9 course meals of the same thing everytime) so it was a nice change of pace. Though the scallops there sucked! Mom had a zillion things to do but we found time to get some games for my phone (and Sannie's).

Friday was going to be a busy day as we were going to be flying down to Naga for Nicky Boy's wedding. That's next up (hopefully faster than a month away)